text:
AGTCG
THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL & THE UN
WMO REPORT DEC 2020
Posted by: chaamjamal on: December 3, 2020
RELATED POST: THE WMO IS AN AGENCY OF THE UN: https://tambonthongchai.com/2019/03/31/wmo/
RELATED POST: THE WMO REPORT OF MARCH 2020: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/09/28/the-wmo-state-of-the-climate-march-2020/
PART-1: ITEM BY ITEM RESPONSE TO WHAT THE WMO REPORT SAYS
CLAIM: 2020, is on track to be one of the three warmest years on record. 2011-2020 will be the warmest decade on record, with the warmest six years all being since 2015. Modern temperature records began in 1850. This assessment is based on five global temperature datasets. All five of those datasets currently place 2020 as the 2nd warmest for the year to date, following 2016 and ahead of 2019. RESPONSE: Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) is a theory about the impact of fossil fuel emissions described as a long term warming trend in global mean temperature. Temperature events whether at annual or decadal time scales have no interpretation in terms of AGW as they are both time and geography constrained. The effect of AGW on temperature can only be assessed as long term trends over more than 30 years of mean temperature for the earth or for significant latitudinal sections thereof. The temperature events cited as evidence of AGW are irrelevant in this context.
CLAIM: Despite the COVID-19 lockdown, atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continued to rise, committing the planet to further warming for many generations to come because of the long lifetime of CO2 in the atmosphere. RESPONSE: Although this claim is being proposed by the WMO to support the theory of AGW, we note that this theory begins with the assumption that the observed changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration are caused by fossil fuel emissions. The observed absence of this response reported here does not support AGW theory but proves it wrong.
CLAIM: The most notable warmth was observed in the Siberian Arctic, where temperatures were more than 5 °C above average. Siberian heat culminated in late June, when it reached 38.0 °C at Verkhoyansk on the 20th, provisionally the highest known temperature anywhere north of the Arctic Circle. This fuelled the most active wildfire season in an 18-year long data record. RESPONSE: Here the WMO provides no evidence or argument to attribute the June 2020 temperature events in Verkhoyansk to AGW (anthropogenic global warming) possibly because none exists. In a related post, LINK: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/07/13/siberian-heat-larming-climate-scientists/ we show that these temperature events must be understood as localized and time constrained events and not as creations of AGW specifically since no relationship exists in the relevant global warming data for that period with what occurred in Verkhoyansk. The attribution of the Verkhoyansk temperature events of June 2020 to AGW by the WMO is specious. It has no basis in the theory or in the relevant data for AGW.
CLAIM: Arctic sea-ice reached its annual minimum in September, as the second lowest in the 42-year-old satellite record. Arctic sea ice for July and October 2020 was the lowest on record. Sea-ice in the Laptev Sea has been exceptionally low through the spring, summer and autumn, and the Northern Sea Route was ice-free or close to ice free from July to October 2020. RESPONSE: Here the WMO implies that AGW is responsible for the decline in Arctic sea ice over the last 42 years but no evidence is provided for this attribution possibly because none exists. In related posts we show that no evidence is found in the data that Arctic sea ice extent or volume is responsive to AGW temperature above the Arctic: LINK#1: https://tambonthongchai.com/2019/11/07/precipitous-decline-in-arctic-sea-ice-volume/ LINK#2: https://tambonthongchai.com/2019/09/28/sea-ice-extent-area-1979-2018/ In another related post we show that the Arctic is geologically active with significant geothermal flux created by the geological features of the Arctic in the Mid-Arctic-Rift, the Baffin Bay Labrador Rift System, and the Greenland-Iceland Mantle Plume, and that they play a role in sea ice melt. LINK: https://tambonthongchai.com/2019/07/01/arctic/
5. CLAIM: Sea-ice in the Laptev Sea has been exceptionally low through the spring, summer and autumn, and the Northern Sea Route was ice-free or close to ice free from July to October 2020. RESPONSE: The Laptev Sea region of the Arctic is a special case in terms of geological activity as explained in a related post: LINK: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/10/28/arctic-warming-alarm-of-october-2020/ where we show that the geology of the Laptev Sea is best understood in terms of the Laptev Rift System and the Gakkel Slow Spreading Ridge. This part of the Arctic is known for its hydrothermal vents with episodal high levels of hydrothermal heat flux. Therefore episodic extreme sea ice melt in this area can be described in terms of these geological features of the Laptev Sea and not in terms of AGW.
6. CLAIM: Greenland continued to lose ice, losing 152 Gt of ice this year, despite a slower rate than 2019. RESPONSE: In the long time span IMBIE study of Greenland ice melt we find loss rates as high as 250 to 350 Gt of ice per year. Since the WMO position is that atmospheric global warming explains all ice melt events and since global warming has continued to increase the temperature since the IMBIE study, and since 2020 is cited by the WMO as a particularly hot year, some explanation is necessary for the unusually low ice loss from Greenland under the extreme heat conditions described by the WMO in this document. Related post on Greenland ice melt: LINK: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/10/30/the-greenland-iceland-mantle-plume/ . Some explanation for this anomaly is required from the World Meteorological Organization.
7. CLAIM: Ocean heat content for 2019 was highest on record in the datasets going back to 1960. There is a clear signal for faster heat uptake in recent decades. More than 90% of the excess energy accumulating in the climate system as a result of increased concentrations of greenhouse gases goes into the ocean. RESPONSE: The ocean heat content data tells us how much heat is in the ocean. It does not tell us where it came from and specifically it does not tell us that it came from the greenhouse effect of the atmosphere and that it didn't come from the greater heat sources at the bottom of the ocean. In a related post on ocean heat content: LINK: https://tambonthongchai.com/2018/10/06/ohc/ we show that the distribution of the "ocean heat content" (OHC) in the ocean is not as uniform as one would expect if the source of heat were the atmosphere. What we find is an extreme non-uniform distribution both horizontally and vertically where in many cases, the deep OHC (2000m) exceeds the shallow OHC (700m) in certain geographical regions but not in others. These patterns in OHC imply non-uniform and multiple heat sources and they are therefore inconsistent with the claim that ocean heat content dynamics can be understood in terms of a single source claimed by the WMO to be the greenhouse effect of the atmosphere.
8. CLAIM: As with heatwaves on land, extreme heat can affect the near-surface layer of the oceans with a range of consequences for marine life and dependent communities. Satellite retrievals of sea-surface temperature are used to monitor marine heatwaves, which can be categorized as moderate, strong, severe or extreme. Much of the ocean experienced at least one 'strong' marine heatwave at some point in 2020. The Laptev Sea experienced an extreme marine heatwave from June to October. Sea ice extent was unusually low in the region and adjacent land areas experienced heatwaves during the summer. RESPONSE: Marine heatwaves are localized evanescent SST anomalies in shallow waters near land and along continental shelves. These anomalous SST "hotspots" can hang around for days and are classified as MHW only if they persist for 5 days or more. It is generally agreed that since these anomalies tend to occur in proximity to land that proximity to land may be a factor in the creation of these anomalies. Another location oddity of the MHW is that their location is not random but tend to recur in the same location over and over at similar intensities. The MHW markers are color coded for temperature – the darker the hotter. As the video steps through time one month at a time we find that hardly any MWH lasts longer than a month. A notable exception is seen in the Arctic where a small cluster of intense MHW appears to persist longer. We also see in this video that MHW locations month to month are not random but that MHW tends to recur in the same location over and over and at the same intensity with the intensity also being location specific. This behavior implies that MHW is a location specific phenomenon. An apparent oddity is that most MHW SST anomalies tend to occur in polar regions both north and south. This pattern is stronger for more intense SST anomalies. Locations of SST anomalies described as Marine Heat Waves do not follow a pattern that would imply a uniform atmospheric cause by way of fossil fuel driven AGW climate change. That they are location specific implies that the cause may also be location specific. The WMO assumes an AGW cause for these SST anomalies but no evidence is provided for that causation and none is found in the bibliography in the related post on MHW: LINK: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/01/30/ohw/
9. CLAIM: Ocean acidification is increasing. The ocean absorbs around 23% of the annual emissions of anthropogenic CO2 from the atmosphere, thereby helping to alleviate the impacts of climate change on the planet. The ecological costs of this process to the ocean are high, as the CO2 reacts with seawater lowering its pH; a process known as ocean acidification. There is decline in average pH at the available observing sites between 2015 and 2019, the last year for which data are currently available. A wider variety of sources including measurements of other variables shows also a steady increase in the global ocean acidification. RESPONSE: The data do show a gradual decline in ocean pH over the past decades but statistical analysis of the data do not show that oceanic pH is responsive to fossil fuel emissions or that there is sufficient CO2 in fossil fuel emissions to explain the observed changes in oceanic pH: LINK#1: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/08/22/ocean-acidification/ LINK#2: https://tambonthongchai.com/2019/12/14/ocean-acidification-2019/ . An additional issue that has not been addressed by climate science or by the WMO is that the the extent of known geological activity in the ocean involves much greater flows of carbon and carbon dioxide and these data imply that changes in oceanic pH cannot be understood purely in terms of atmospheric phenomena because the total mass of the atmosphere and of our fossil fuel emissions are insignificant when compared with nature's own oceanic chemistry as described in the two related posts linked below. The data do show changes in oceanic pH but they do not provide the evidence for the attribution of these changes to fossil fuel emissions.
LINK#1: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/03/20/an-atmosphere-bias-part-2/
LINK#2: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/08/14/ocean-volcanism/
10. CLAIM: Severe flooding affected many millions of people in East Africa and the Sahel, South Asia, China and Viet Nam. In Africa – Sudan and Kenya were the worst hit, with 285 deaths reported in Kenya and 155 in Sudan. Lake Victoria reached record levels in May, the Niger and Nile rivers reached record levels at Niamey (Niger) and Khartoum (Sudan). Flooding also contributed to an ongoing locust outbreak. In South Asia – India experienced one of the two wettest monsoon seasons since 1994, August was the wettest month on record for Pakistan, and widespread flooding was observed throughout the region (including Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar). In China – Persistent high rainfall in the Yangtze River catchment during the monsoon season also caused severe flooding. Reported economic losses exceeded US$15 billion, and at least 279 deaths were reported during the period. In Viet Nam – Heavy rains typical of the arrival of the northeast monsoon were exacerbated by a succession of tropical cyclones and depressions, with eight making landfall in less than five weeks. In the interior of South America, severe drought affected many parts in 2020, with the worst-affected areas being northern Argentina, Paraguay and the western border areas of Brazil. Estimated agricultural losses were near US$3 billion in Brazil alone. There was significant wildfire activity across the region, most severe in the Pantanal wetlands of western Brazil. In the USA, the largest fires ever recorded occurred in late summer and autumn. Widespread drought and extreme heat contributed to the fires, and July to September were the hottest and driest on record for the southwest. Death Valley in California reached 54.4 °C on 16 August, the highest known temperature in the world in at least the last 80 years. In the Caribbean, major heatwaves occurred in April and September. Temperatures reached 39.7 °C at Veguitas on 12 April, a national record for Cuba, whilst Havana also had its hottest day with 38.5 °C. Australia broke heat records in early 2020, including the highest observed temperatures in an Australian metropolitan area, in western Sydney when Penrith reached 48.9 °C on 4 January. Europe experienced drought and heatwaves, although these were generally not as intense at in 2019. In the eastern Mediterranean with all-time records set in Jerusalem (42.7 °C) and Eilat (48.9 °C) on 4 September, following a late July heatwave in the Middle East in which Kuwait Airport reached 52.1 °C and Baghdad 51.8 °C. RESPONSE: A laundry list of weather events and wildfire events is presented with the unspoken proposition that they were caused by fossil fuel emissions and that these things can be prevented with climate action in the form of not using fossil fuels. However, no evidence or citation is provided for that attribution. In climate science the minimum required effort for such attribution is what's called "Event Attribution Science" derived from the UN's Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) described in a related post: LINK: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/06/29/diffenbaugh-2017-extreme-weather-of-climate-change/ that was proposed in a UN meeting in which the WMO participated. So what we have here is a laundry list of extreme weather events with the implication but neither the statement nor the evidence that they were caused by fossil fuel emissions and that they could have been avoided with climate action. Yet another consideration in this laundry list is the issue of internal climate variability (ICV) described in a related post: LINK: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/07/16/the-internal-variability-issue/ . The ICV issue is that AGW is a theory about long term trends in global mean temperature for periods longer than 30 years. Therefore, the interpretation of climate data in terms of AGW requires a long time span and a large geographical span that is either global or a significant latitudinal section thereof. Weather events constrained by geographical localization and brief time intervals of a few days or months have no AGW interpretation because in these cases "Internal variability in the climate system confounds assessment of human-induced climate change and imposes irreducible limits on the accuracy of climate change projections, especially at regional and decadal scales. ". Therefore, though the long laundry list of weather and flooding events saddens readers of the WMO report, their implied attribution to fossil fueled AGW has no basis and none is offered by the WMO.
11. CLAIM: Tropical Cyclones and storms: The number of tropical cyclones globally was above average in 2020, with 96 cyclones as of 17 November in the 2020 Northern Hemisphere and 2019-2020 Southern Hemisphere seasons. The North Atlantic region had an exceptionally active season, with 30 tropical cyclones as of 17 November, more than double the long-term average (1981-2010) and breaking the record for a full season, set in 2005. At a time when the season is normally winding down, two Category 4 hurricanes made landfall in Central America in less than two weeks in November, resulting in devastating flooding and many casualties. Cyclone Amphan which made landfall on 20 May near the India-Bangladesh border was the costliest tropical cyclone on record for the North Indian Ocean, with reported economic losses in India of approximately US$14 billion. Large-scale evacuations of coastal areas in India and Bangladesh helped to lower casualties compared to previous cyclones in the region. Approximately 10 million displacements, largely due to hydro-meteorological hazards and disasters, were recorded during the first half of 2020, mainly concentrated in South and South-east Asia and the Horn of Africa. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has added a further dimension to human mobility concerns. The COVID-19 pandemic has added also another layer of risk to evacuation, recovery and relief operations related to high-impact events. In the Philippines, for example, although over 180 000 people were pre-emptively evacuated ahead of Tropical Cyclone Vongfong (Ambo) in mid-May, the need for social distancing measures meant that residents could not be transported in large numbers and evacuation centres could only be used at half capacity. RESPONSE: According to climate science, {See for example Knutson etal 2010}, the impact of AGW on tropical cyclones can be assessed only in terms of total Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) for all six cyclone basins over a sufficiently long time span longer than 30 years. Tropical cyclone data for individual cyclone basins (as for example the North Atlantic Basin where tropical cyclones are called Hurricanes or the West Pacific Basin where tropical cyclones are called Typhoons) have no interpretation in terms of AGW. Moreover, tropical cyclone data presented here for the years 2019 and 2020 do not have an AGW interpretation because the time scale is too brief. Although the tragic events described are indeed tragic, the implication that they are the result of fossil fuel emissions and that they could have been avoided by taking climate action and moving away from fossil fuels to renewables, has no basis. Details of this issue in the six related posts linked below: LINK#1: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/09/20/a-failed-obsession-with-tropical-cyclones/ LINK#2: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/03/04/agwcyclones/ LINK#3: https://tambonthongchai.com/2019/08/01/tropical-cyclones-climate-change/ LINK#4: https://tambonthongchai.com/2019/03/22/ace-sst/ LINK#5: https://tambonthongchai.com/2019/11/14/hurricane-obsession/ LINK#6: https://tambonthongchai.com/2018/09/18/climate-change-hurricanes/
12. CLAIM: FOOD INSECURITY: After decades of decline, the recent increase in food insecurity since 2014 is driven by conflicts and economic slowdown as well as by climate variability and extreme weather events. Nearly 690 million people, or 9% of the world population, were undernourished and about 750 million experienced severe levels of food insecurity in 2019 according to the latest FAO data. The number of people classified under crisis, emergency and famine conditions had increased to almost 135 million people across 55 countries. The number of undernourished people in the world. According to FAO and WFP, over 50 million people have been hit twice: by climate-related disasters (floods, droughts and storms) and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Countries in Central America are suffering from the triple-impact of hurricanes Eta and Iota, COVID-19 and pre-existing humanitarian crises. The Government of Honduras estimated that 53 000 hectares of cropland were washed away, mainly rice, beans, and sugarcane. Negative environmental effects include impacts on land such as droughts, wildfires in forest and peatland areas, land degradation, sand and dust storms, desertification and air pollution, with far reaching implications for nature and wildlife. Impacts on marine systems include sea level rise, ocean acidification, reduced levels of ocean oxygen, mangrove decay and coral bleaching. According to International Monetary Fund , the current global recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic makes it challenging to enact the policies needed for mitigation, but it also presents opportunities to set the economy on a greener path in order to boost investment in green and resilient public infrastructure, thus supporting GDP and employment during the recovery phase. RESPONSE: Food insecurity is a serious issue in sub-Sahara Africa and parts of Asia and South America and it should not be used by the WMO and the UN to sell their climate agenda. Much of this problem results from a failure of the UN, particularly the UNDP that was formed to address poverty and food insecurity issues but this ideal has been hijacked by the UN's climate change priority that has imposed a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) priority on the UNDP and thus corrupted its poverty alleviation and food security program. The same UN is here in the form of the WMO shedding alligator tears for food insecurity as a way of selling their climate agenda. Food insecurity is a poverty issue and not a climate issue. The SDG program of the UNDP is described in a related post. LINK: https://tambonthongchai.com/2019/03/06/sdg/
FOOD INSECURITY BIBLIOGRAPHY
Smith, Lisa C., Amani E. El Obeid, and Helen H. Jensen. "The geography and causes of food insecurity in developing countries." Agricultural economics 22.2 (2000): 199-215. At the 1996 World Food Summit, 186 countries made a commitment to reduce the number of chronically undernourished people by half by 2015. In order to formulate effective policies for reaching this goal, a thorough understanding of the location and causes of food insecurity is needed. This paper provides a broad overview of the current character of food insecurity in developing countries, focusing on two questions: (1) Why are they food insecure? and (2) Why are the food insecure? To answer the latter question data from 58 developing countries with high prevalences of food insecurity are employed to examine the relative importance of two of food insecurity's most basic causes: national food availability and the inability of people to access food due to poverty. Using child malnutrition as a proxy (along with descriptive controls for non‐food determinants of malnutrition), the paper finds little correlation between national food availabilities and food insecurity. The group of countries that exhibit the highest severity of food insecurity are those with high poverty and food (dietary energy) surpluses, consistent with the view that poverty is the most widespread cause of food insecurity. The paper concludes by considering the implications of the analysis for appropriate geographical and policy targeting to improve food security for the greatest numbers of people at the fastest pace, now and into the 21st century.
Clover, Jenny. "Food security in sub-Saharan Africa." African Security Studies 12.1 (2003): 5-15. The right to food is one of those most consistently mentioned in international human rights documents, but it is the one most frequently violated in recent times. Targets set by the World Food Summit in 1996 for the reduction of hunger have largely failed, despite food production having grown faster than world population. Global, national and human security issues are increasingly converging, and in some regions overlapping. Some 840 million people worldwide are malnourished, the highest percentage of these being in Africa. The magnitude of the problem in Africa has now reached unprecedented crisis levels—some 38 million people face "an urgent and imminent threat to their peace, security and stability". The reasons why action plans to address food security have continued to fall short can be attributed to faulty analysis and faulty actions. What is needed is an understanding that goes beyond conventional, orthodox wisdom to work more strategically in developing and implementing effective, international, national and regional policies. Availability, access and affordability are all elements of food security, complex issues that encompass a wide range of interrelated economic, social and political factors, internal and external, which challenge Africa's ability to address food security. Ultimately hunger is a political creation which must be ended by political means.
Nyariki, Dickson M., and Steve Wiggins. "Household food insecurity in sub‐Saharan Africa: lessons from Kenya." British food journal (1997). Despite the widely acknowledged prognosis that the danger of unrelenting hunger and famine looms large in sub‐Saharan Africa and that there is a constant need for donors to provide much required food relief, there is a paucity of literature based on comprehensive empirical work at the household or individual level. Based on data collected across two years and two locations in rural Kenya, attempts to develop further the literature on household food security. Food balances are computed and various approaches to food poverty analysis are employed by setting a very low poverty line to determine the proportion of households whose members would require external food support. Results show that per capita food production is low and varies with rainfall, and food poverty and inequality in distribution are high. A great deal could be done, therefore, in the sphere of livelihood opportunities to enhance household purchasing power and hence effective demand and food distribution.
Baro, Mamadou, and Tara F. Deubel. "Persistent hunger: Perspectives on vulnerability, famine, and food security in sub-Saharan Africa." Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 35 (2006): 521-538. This review examines the persistence of chronic hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa in the twenty-first century and reviews dominant famine theories, concepts of vulnerability, and household livelihood security and responses to recent food crises in the region. The authors argue that famine occurrences are linked to historical and contemporary socioeconomic processes that have increased over time the vulnerability of African households to hunger and reduced their resilience to environmental and economic shocks, political conflict, and the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS. Approaches to famine need to move away from the "emergency relief" framework to better address the underlying conditions that make food shortages endemic. Future food security for Africa requires an integrated long-term response to household vulnerability on the part of African governments, civil society, and international partners by incorporating new technologies, local expertise, and active involvement of African communities living with the realities of recurrent famine.
Hesselberg, Jan, and Joseph A. Yaro. "An assessment of the extent and causes of food insecurity in northern Ghana using a livelihood vulnerability framework." GeoJournal 67.1 (2006): 41-55. The article describes the food insecurity situation in three villages in northern Ghana. A livelihood approach is used emphasising the vulnerability of the peasants' adaptation to a marginal and remote area. The peasant households are grouped according to level of food insecurity. It is argued that multiple income sources including non-farm activities are necessary to reduce food insecurity for all but a small part of the peasant households.
Maxwell, Daniel. "The political economy of urban food security in Sub-Saharan Africa." World Development 27.11 (1999): 1939-1953. Sub-Saharan African cities in the late 1990s face a daunting set of problems including rapid growth, increasing poverty, deteriorating infrastructure, and inadequate capacity for service provision. Even as a renewed debate is shaping up around issues of urban development, there is little attention given to the question of urban food security. Whereas in the 1970s and 1980s, urban food problems in Africa commanded political attention, the nature of urban food insecurity in the 1990s is such that it has tended to lose political importance. This is largely because in the 1970s, the problem was one of outright food shortages and rapid price changes that affected large portions of the urban population simultaneously. The impact of structural adjustment, continued rapid growth, and an increase in poverty make urban food insecurity in the 1990s primarily a problem of access by the urban poor. Under circumstances where the urban poor spend a very large portion of their total income on food, urban poverty rapidly translates into food insecurity. The lack of formal safety nets, and the shifting of responsibility for coping with food insecurity away from the state towards the individual and household level has tended to atomize and muffle any political response to this new urban food insecurity. This paper briefly reviews urban food insecurity and generates a set of empirical questions for an analysis of food and livelihood security in contemporary urban sub-Saharan Africa, and then examines historical and contemporary evidence from Kampala, Uganda, and Accra, Ghana, to suggest some tentative conclusions.
Del Ninno, Carlo, Paul A. Dorosh, and Kalanidhi Subbarao. "Food aid, domestic policy and food security: Contrasting experiences from South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa." Food Policy 32.4 (2007): 413-435. Food aid, both for short-term emergency relief and as program food aid that helps address medium-term food "deficits", is often a major component of food security strategies in developing countries. This study reviews the experience with food aid of four major recipients of food aid (India, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Zambia) regarding food production, trade, markets, consumption and safety nets, as well as the policy responses to food emergencies. The widely varying experiences of the study countries suggest that food aid that supports building of production and market enhancing infrastructure, is timed to avoid adverse price effects on producers, and is targeted to food insecure households can play a positive role in enhancing food security. However, food aid is not the only, or in many cases, the most efficient means of addressing food insecurity. In many cases private markets can more effectively address shortfalls in food availability and cash transfers may be a viable alternative to food transfers in-kind.
Legwegoh, Alexander F., and Evan DG Fraser. "Food crisis or chronic poverty: metanarratives of food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa." Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition 10.3 (2015): 313-342. This article examines different depictions of the challenges presented by food insecurity and how these depictions influence programming and policy. Using a content analysis methodology, we contrast 3 distinct bodies of food security literature: (1) recently published scientific papers; (2) international development agencies project documents; and (3) reports and policy documents produced by Sub-Saharan African governments. Analysis reveals 2 main narratives: a "crisis narrative" that views food insecurity as a "production" crisis, common in the scientific and aid agency documents, and a "chronic poverty narrative" that views food insecurity as fundamentally linked to poverty and low economic development, predominantly in the African policy documents. By identifying and describing these 2 distinct narratives, our goal is to initiate a debate around the hegemony of narratives, especially the production crisis narrative. In particular, we are concerned that the notion that we are facing a "food production crisis" overwhelms the description of food insecurity as an issue linked to chronic poverty and in doing so fails to lead to meaningful change in Africa.
PART-2: THE REPORT
Climate change continued its relentless march in 2020, which is on track to be one of the three warmest years on record. 2011-2020 will be the warmest decade on record, with the warmest six years all being since 2015. Ocean heat is at record levels and more than 80% of the global ocean experienced a marine heatwave at some time in 2020, with widespread repercussions for marine ecosystems already suffering from more acidic waters due to carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption. The report shows how high-impact events including extreme heat, wildfires and floods, as well as the record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season, affected millions of people, compounding threats to human health and security and economic stability posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the COVID-19 lockdown, atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continued to rise, committing the planet to further warming for many generations to come because of the long lifetime of CO2 in the atmosphere. The average global temperature in 2020 is set to be about 1.2 °C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) level. There is at least a one in five chance of it temporarily exceeding 1.5 °C by 2024. This year is the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We welcome all the recent commitments by governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because we are currently not on track and more efforts are needed. Record warm years have usually coincided with a strong El Niño event, as was the case in 2016. We are now experiencing a La Niña, which has a cooling effect on global temperatures, but has not been sufficient to put a brake on this year's heat. Despite the current La Niña conditions, this year has already shown near record heat comparable to the previous record of 2016.
2020 is yet another extraordinary year for our climate. We saw new extreme temperatures on land, sea and especially in the Arctic. Wildfires consumed vast areas in Australia, Siberia, the US West Coast and South America, sending plumes of smoke circumnavigating the globe. We saw a record number of hurricanes in the Atlantic, including unprecedented back-to-back category 4 hurricanes in Central America in November. Flooding in parts of Africa and South East Asia led to massive population displacement and undermined food security for millions.
START HERE: The global mean temperature for January to October 2020 was around 1.2°C above the 1850–1900 baseline, used as an approximation of pre-industrial levels. 2020 is very likely to be one of the three warmest years on record globally. Modern temperature records began in 1850. This assessment is based on five global temperature datasets. All five of those datasets currently place 2020 as the 2nd warmest for the year to date, following 2016 and ahead of 2019. The most notable warmth was observed across northern Asia, particularly the Siberian Arctic, where temperatures were more than 5 °C above average. Siberian heat culminated in late June, when it reached 38.0 °C at Verkhoyansk on the 20th, provisionally the highest known temperature anywhere north of the Arctic Circle. This fuelled the most active wildfire season in an 18-year long data record, as estimated in terms of CO2 emissions released from fires. Since the mid-1980s, the Arctic has warmed at least twice as fast as the global average, reinforcing a long downward trend in summer Arctic sea ice extent which has repercussions on the climate in mid-latitude regions. Arctic sea-ice reached its annual minimum in September, as the second lowest in the 42-year-old satellite record. Arctic sea ice for July and October 2020 was the lowest on record. Sea-ice in the Laptev Sea has been exceptionally low through the spring, summer and autumn, and the Northern Sea Route was ice-free or close to ice free from July to October 2020. Antarctic ice in 2020 was close to or slightly above the 42-year mean. Greenland continued to lose ice, losing 152 Gt of ice this year, despite a slower rate than 2019. Ocean heat content for 2019 was highest on record in the datasets going back to 1960. There is a clear signal for faster heat uptake in recent decades. More than 90% of the excess energy accumulating in the climate system as a result of increased concentrations of greenhouse gases goes into the ocean. On average, since early 1993, the altimetry-based global mean rate of sea level rise amounts to 3.3 ± 0.3 mm/yr. The rate has also increased over that time. A greater loss of ice mass from the ice sheets is the main cause of the accelerated rise in the global mean sea level. Global mean sea-level in 2020 is similar to that in 2019, and consistent with the long-term trend. Developing La Niña conditions have led to a recent small drop in global sea level, similar to the temporary drops associated with previous La Niña events. As with heatwaves on land, extreme heat can affect the near-surface layer of the oceans with a range of consequences for marine life and dependent communities. Satellite retrievals of sea-surface temperature are used to monitor marine heatwaves, which can be categorized as moderate, strong, severe or extreme. Much of the ocean experienced at least one 'strong' marine heatwave at some point in 2020. The Laptev Sea experienced an extreme marine heatwave from June to October. Sea ice extent was unusually low in the region and adjacent land areas experienced heatwaves during the summer. Ocean acidification is increasing. The ocean absorbs around 23% of the annual emissions of anthropogenic CO2 from the atmosphere, thereby helping to alleviate the impacts of climate change on the planet. The ecological costs of this process to the ocean are high, as the CO2 reacts with seawater lowering its pH; a process known as ocean acidification. There is decline in average pH at the available observing sites between 2015 and 2019, the last year for which data are currently available. A wider variety of sources including measurements of other variables shows also a steady increase in the global ocean acidification. Severe flooding affected many millions of people in East Africa and the Sahel, South Asia, China and Viet Nam. In Africa – Sudan and Kenya were the worst hit, with 285 deaths reported in Kenya and 155 in Sudan. Lake Victoria reached record levels in May, the Niger and Nile rivers reached record levels at Niamey (Niger) and Khartoum (Sudan). Flooding also contributed to an ongoing locust outbreak. In South Asia – India experienced one of the two wettest monsoon seasons since 1994, August was the wettest month on record for Pakistan, and widespread flooding was observed throughout the region (including Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar). In China – Persistent high rainfall in the Yangtze River catchment during the monsoon season also caused severe flooding. Reported economic losses exceeded US$15 billion, and at least 279 deaths were reported during the period. In Viet Nam – Heavy rains typical of the arrival of the northeast monsoon were exacerbated by a succession of tropical cyclones and depressions, with eight making landfall in less than five weeks. In the interior of South America, severe drought affected many parts in 2020, with the worst-affected areas being northern Argentina, Paraguay and the western border areas of Brazil. Estimated agricultural losses were near US$3 billion in Brazil alone. There was significant wildfire activity across the region, most severe in the Pantanal wetlands of western Brazil. In the USA, the largest fires ever recorded occurred in late summer and autumn. Widespread drought and extreme heat contributed to the fires, and July to September were the hottest and driest on record for the southwest. Death Valley in California reached 54.4 °C on 16 August, the highest known temperature in the world in at least the last 80 years. In the Caribbean, major heatwaves occurred in April and September. Temperatures reached 39.7 °C at Veguitas on 12 April, a national record for Cuba, whilst Havana also had its hottest day with 38.5 °C. Australia broke heat records in early 2020, including the highest observed temperatures in an Australian metropolitan area, in western Sydney when Penrith reached 48.9 °C on 4 January. Europe experienced drought and heatwaves, although these were generally not as intense at in 2019. In the eastern Mediterranean with all-time records set in Jerusalem (42.7 °C) and Eilat (48.9 °C) on 4 September, following a late July heatwave in the Middle East in which Kuwait Airport reached 52.1 °C and Baghdad 51.8 °C.
Tropical Cyclones and storms: The number of tropical cyclones globally was above average in 2020, with 96 cyclones as of 17 November in the 2020 Northern Hemisphere and 2019-2020 Southern Hemisphere seasons. The North Atlantic region had an exceptionally active season, with 30 tropical cyclones as of 17 November, more than double the long-term average (1981-2010) and breaking the record for a full season, set in 2005. At a time when the season is normally winding down, two Category 4 hurricanes made landfall in Central America in less than two weeks in November, resulting in devastating flooding and many casualties. Cyclone Amphan which made landfall on 20 May near the India-Bangladesh border was the costliest tropical cyclone on record for the North Indian Ocean, with reported economic losses in India of approximately US$14 billion. Large-scale evacuations of coastal areas in India and Bangladesh helped to lower casualties compared to previous cyclones in the region. Approximately 10 million displacements, largely due to hydro-meteorological hazards and disasters, were recorded during the first half of 2020, mainly concentrated in South and South-east Asia and the Horn of Africa.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has added a further dimension to human mobility concerns. The COVID-19 pandemic has added also another layer of risk to evacuation, recovery and relief operations related to high-impact events. In the Philippines, for example, although over 180 000 people were pre-emptively evacuated ahead of Tropical Cyclone Vongfong (Ambo) in mid-May, the need for social distancing measures meant that residents could not be transported in large numbers and evacuation centres could only be used at half capacity.
After decades of decline, the recent increase in food insecurity since 2014 is driven by conflicts and economic slowdown as well as by climate variability and extreme weather events. Nearly 690 million people, or 9% of the world population, were undernourished and about 750 million experienced severe levels of food insecurity in 2019 according to the latest FAO data. The number of people classified under crisis, emergency and famine conditions had increased to almost 135 million people across 55 countries. The number of undernourished people in the world. According to FAO and WFP, over 50 million people have been hit twice: by climate-related disasters (floods, droughts and storms) and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Countries in Central America are suffering from the triple-impact of hurricanes Eta and Iota, COVID-19 and pre-existing humanitarian crises. The Government of Honduras estimated that 53 000 hectares of cropland were washed away, mainly rice, beans, and sugarcane.
Negative environmental effects include impacts on land such as droughts, wildfires in forest and peatland areas, land degradation, sand and dust storms, desertification and air pollution, with far reaching implications for nature and wildlife. Impacts on marine systems include sea level rise, ocean acidification, reduced levels of ocean oxygen, mangrove decay and coral bleaching.
According to International Monetary Fund , the current global recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic makes it challenging to enact the policies needed for mitigation, but it also presents opportunities to set the economy on a greener path in order to boost investment in green and resilient public infrastructure, thus supporting GDP and employment during the recovery phase.
2 Responses to "WMO REPORT DEC 2020"
1 | PA Pundits - International
Way to go! Good detailed rebuttals to Climate fear-mongers.


Helping teenagers and their parents see the big picture of career planning.
Having written a few posts addressing common issues for first time or teenage resume writers, I thought it might be good to wrap up the short series with a few tips to help tie everything together.
Before you start writing: First, a huge heads up before I provide any more specific tips. A first time or teenage resume writer might be tempted to embellish or invent details for the resume, but this is a very bad idea. Employers have ways of finding out if you have lied in any way on your resume, so make sure every detail you include is the absolute truth.
Your contact information should always be placed at the top of the resume, and should include your name, address, phone number, and email address. A professional email address is best, so if yours is anything like partygirl99@hotmail.com, you should create another, more appropriate address for your job search.
In your education section, it is a good idea to include your graduation date, i.e. Class of 2018.
When writing about your experience, whether work or volunteer, be sure to start each bullet point with a strong, active verb. Examples include maintained, organized, developed, etc.
The expected headings on a resume are education and experience (work and / or volunteer), but many others are possible. You might consider: skills, leadership experience, research experience, writing experience, computer experience, objectives, leadership, related coursework, etc. Choose the headings that best represent what you have to offer.
Always proofread your resume; you would not want to be removed from the running due to a careless typo or other mistake. Also, have someone else you trust read the document. They might be able to find mistakes you missed in your own proofreading.
Have multiple copies of your resume available: on paper, on a flash drive, and in your email. You never know when you might need one.
Update your resume often. Add new experiences, activities and clubs while you are still involved in them; this will help you to remember the relevant details more easily.
Be conscious of what you have posted on your social media accounts, like Facebook and Twitter. Employers can check these, so make sure you have updated your privacy settings, and have removed anything that could reflect poorly on you from your accounts. Or better yet, don't post questionable or controversial content in the first place.
Whether you are writing a resume for a summer job, an internship, or co-op placement, these tips can help you craft the best document to help you land the position.


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Read Next:	Ivanka Trump Talks Investment in U.S. Jobs in CES Keynote, Gets Warm Reception
May 9, 2019 3:01PM PT
Pete Buttigieg Makes Fundraising Blitz in Series of Hollywood-Centric Events
Jeffrey and Marilyn Katzenberg to Co-Host Evening Event
By Ted Johnson
Senior Editor @tedstew	FOLLOW
Ted's Most Recent Stories
Stars Show Support for Pete Buttigieg at Gwyneth Paltrow Event
Gail MacKinnon Takes on Expanded Duties at MPAA
CREDIT: CJ GUNTHER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Pete Buttigieg started a fundraising blitz through Los Angeles donor circles on Thursday, a reflection of the sudden interest in his unexpected rise as a serious candidate for the Democratic nomination.
In contrast to previous visits to Los Angeles, where he has met individually with prominent bundlers and held meet and greets, his schedule includes four fundraisers aimed at higher-end donors and one, at the West Hollywood nightspot The Abbey, billed as a grassroots gathering.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, who Buttigieg met with on a visit last month, will be co-hosting an event with wife Marilyn on Thursday evening at the home of Claire and Brian Goldsmith, with tickets starting at $250 per person (for those under 37, which is Buttigieg's age). Those who write checks for $2,800 or raise that amount can get a picture with the candidate, and those who contribute $1,000 will receive a signed book. Claire Goldsmith is an online education administrator; Brian Goldsmith is an investor who has co-hosted a podcast with Katie Couric.
On Thursday afternoon, Buttigieg attended a lunch in Brentwood, co-chaired by Jill Goldman, Vicki Kennedy, Lauren Taschen and Wendy Riva. Tickets started at $250 per person.
Later in the day he was scheduled for an event at the The Abbey, with tickets starting at $25 per person, with co-hosts including West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tempore Lindsey Horvath, Sam Greisman and UTA's Brent Weinstein.
He'll also be doing a later-in-the-evening event at the home of Gwyneth Paltrow and her husband, writer-producer Brad Falchuk. Bradley Whitford and Amy Landecker are also co-hosts, with tickets starting at $250 per person.
Buttigieg attended a public event on Thursday morning in support of Measure EE, the parcel tax initiative that would raise money for L.A. public schools. Buttigieg spoke along with Mayor Eric Garcetti, telling the crowd that it is a "selfless act" sometimes "to stand up, to take the time to defend this measure, to defend workers' rights, to insist on more resources, on more professionals, on better wages."
Asked what his strategy would be if he were on a debate stage with President Trump, Buttigieg said, "You know, you can't get too worried on the name calling and the games he plays. I was thinking of a Chinese proverb that goes, 'When the wind changes, some people build walls and some people build windmills.'"
Joe Biden Slams Facebook, Calls for Revoking U.S. Law Shielding Internet Companies From Liability for Speech
Joe Biden, who is campaigning for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, believes internet companies like Facebook should not have legal protections covering speech posted to their platforms by individual users — a change to existing U.S. law that would have sweeping implications. The former vice president under President Obama, in an interview with the New [...]
Democrats Debate: Warren and Sanders Talk Women and Electability
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders sparred on Tuesday night over the question of electability, as Sanders denied having said that a woman could not win the presidency. Warren said on Monday that Sanders had told her in December 2018 that a woman could not be elected — while Sanders said the claim was "ludicrous." [...]
Cory Booker Drops Out of Presidential Race
Sen. Cory Booker announced Monday morning that he is dropping out of the presidential race, with three weeks to go before the Iowa caucus. In a message to supporters, Booker cited fundraising struggles and his failure to make the debate stage, and said he no longer sees a path to victory. "Our campaign has reached [...]
Abby Huntsman to Leave 'The View' to Help Steer Her Father's Gubernatorial Campaign
After a year and a half at the Hot Topics table, Abby Huntsman is leaving her seat as a co-host on "The View." Huntsman is set to announce her departure on today's episode of the ABC daytime mainstay. ABC News confirmed she will exiting "The View" to help work with her father, Jon Huntsman, as [...]
'All Things Considered' Host Ari Shapiro Signs With CAA (EXCLUSIVE)
"All Things Considered" host Ari Shapiro has signed with CAA, Variety has learned. Before serving as one of the hosts of NPR's award-winning afternoon news magazine program, Shapiro was NPR's White House and international correspondent based in London. He was the first NPR reporter promoted to correspondent before the age of 30. "Many of the [...]
Los Angeles D.A. Challenger Questions Timing of Weinstein Rape Charges
The leading challenger in the race for Los Angeles County district attorney has questioned the timing of rape charges against Harvey Weinstein, saying it "smacks of politics." District Attorney Jackie Lacey is running for a third term in the March 3 primary election. On Monday, she held a press conference to announce four charges against [...]
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to 'Step Back as Senior Members of Royal Family'
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have announced they are "stepping back as senior members of the Royal Family." In an Instagram post, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex explained that they made the decision to work towards "becoming financially independent" and to raise their son between the United States and the United Kingdom. Speculation is [...]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Piano's Forte: Museum as Ecosystem
Renzo Piano's new $488 million structure for the California Academy of Sciences
Tim Griffith
By David Littlejohn
Oct. 22, 2008 12:01 am ET
Renzo Piano has been the architect of preference for original and dramatic new museum projects ever since he and Richard Rogers shocked Paris with their radically modern Centre Pompidou in 1977. In tranquil contrast, Mr. Piano has designed two of the most elegant small private art museums I have ever seen -- the Menil Collection in Houston (1987) and the Beyeler Foundation north of Basel (1997). After designing a "native"-looking cultural center for New Caledonia in the south Pacific (1998), his Genoa-based workshop accepted several commissions to enlarge and improve existing museums across the U.S.


When I hear a query it's always sort of a gut check, you know? It's sort of, "Oh yeah, hmm…" Am I continuing to live in the virtue of that life that takes away the occasion of all wars?
The Quaker Queries are a wonderful invention of asking ourselves some simple questions that we can keep asking ourselves all through our lives, because our circumstances change and we keep maturing in various ways and we find ourselves challenged in new ways to answer these questions.
I've heard it said that throughout much of our history, we were shopkeepers and business people, and we were used to doing inventory all the time. And the queries are a kind of spiritual and moral inventory that Friends do well to keep track of.
It's simply stated enough that—what does it mean to have my heart and mind prepared for worship? Usually you figure out that that means some form of daily or regular spiritual practice of meditation, prayer, reading… something inspirational that keeps us grounded through the week and keeps a spiritual process going, that makes us more prepared to be grounded and centered in the light when we get to meeting for worship, and more useful to the group when we're in that worship process.
Another query traditionally is, "Do you live in the virtue of that life that takes away the occasion for all wars?" So it's a question whether, not only do I live a nonviolent life, but do I live a lifestyle that doesn't support economic factors and environmental factors that we know are sewing seeds of war today. That runs a whole gamut of the products I'm buying and the causes I'm supporting. Not only do I need to avoid some things, but I need to be more actively supporting other things that are furthering the cause of peace and nonviolent resolution to conflict.
These are questions that go in a lot of directions in our lives and can keep us really working on ourselves and deepening our spiritual life and living more authentic and integrated lives over time.
Doug Gwyn says that as shopkeepers and businesspeople, Quakers developed queries as a spiritual and moral inventory practice. How do you take a regular spiritual inventory of your life? How can your meeting support you in this practice?
Have you ever contemplated a query that was particularly useful at that moment in your life? What was the query and why did it have an impact on you?
Isn't it more spiritually centering to ask ourselves these probing questions rather than recite creeds?
Pingback: What is a Quaker Query?
Why is it either creeds or these types if queries? Creeds remind us of who God is, what has done, is doing, and will do in our own lives. The queries help us make sense of this in our day-to-day living. It goes back tp the age-old tension between faith and works. They should be in a constant dance with one another. When one is missing or weak, we get out of balance.
I'd love to see a list of the classic or most meaningful queries. Anyone have a link or source?


NSA Hampton Roads Northwest Retro Bowl is a four-lane bowling alley that is open for reservations only!
Birthday Party, Command Function & Special Events!
Please call 757-421-8250 for information on how to make your reservations. Reservations must be made two weeks in advance!


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Lusty Glaze Beach is as rich in history as it is in beauty. The name is believed to derive from the Cornish translation of "a place to view blue boats"
The little blue boats were the transportation methods employed to take the ore away from the site and could clearly be seen moving to and from the town's picturesque harbour from the surrounding clifftops. In order to move the bounty from the beach to the harbour during big seas, horses and carts would move the iron ore across the town beaches to the harbour. It was for this reason that when Lusty Glaze Beach was transferred by the Crown, both the iron ore rights and the land was sold, giving the unique advantage ownership being to the low water mark. It is reported that it was purchased for the sum of £100.
Lusty Glaze is one of the few coastal beaches to have been rich in iron ore. To the right-hand side of this 120 acre site, a cave, once 200ft deep was mined for its minerals and abandoned in the late 1800's. The site's mining history is captured within the deep man-made scar which was carved out to winch ore deposit from the cove by horse and cart, and the awkward steps leading from the mouth of the cave to the top of the cliff. An ambitious project to create a tunnel from Lusty Glaze to St Columb Minor was abandoned in the 1800's. It is unknown whether the mine ran dry or if it simply became financially unviable to continue with the excavation and transportation; but in approximately 1921, Lusty Glaze Beach commenced a new path in its history operating as a private 'bathing resort'.
Lusty Glaze has, to this day, retained an element of this charm; purpose-built wooden huts replace the canvas stripes and it is favoured by the local community and families who prefer its quirkiness to the mass of tourism on the main Newquay beaches.
Since its original sale by the Crown, there have been 5 privileged owners. Cornish born and bred Tracey Griffiths, purchased the site in 1999 when it was in a derelict state and this is where perhaps the most dynamic stage of the site's development began.
The site was purchased with the vision of maintaining a community focused Beach Resort but as the home of the UK's first dedicated Rescue Training Centre. For many years the site operated as a base for water and land-based training activities. As both cultures and training needs changed, the centre diversified into a vibrant Outdoor Activity Centre establishing the business as one of Cornwall's largest seasonal employers and attracting large numbers of both national and international visitors.
Once again as the leisure industry evolved, so did Lusty Glaze. Tracey and her team slowly scaled back the Adventure Centre and concentrated on establishing the UK's first licenced Beach Resort for Civil Marriages. In addition to this, the team developed a first-class reputation for music events attracting some of the top international bands and artists.
Above all, Lusty Glaze Beach is our home. Tracey and her team are passionate about the onerous responsibility in being this generations custodian of a large stretch of the Cornish coastline. There is something magical about this beautiful cove, it captures your heart and soul. Its energy is powerful and in the last 20 years of her ownership, Tracey has witnessed the life changing effects the cove has had on many. As the team continually evolves to balance the needs of the hospitality market and mother nature, we turn our attention to the future.
Just over 100 years ago, the first commercial owners of the site established the wooden buildings that remain in place today. We are working hard in 2020 to develop a business and physical development plan that will serve Newquay and Cornwall for the next 100 years. We are proud and excited to be the pioneers of this part in the cove's history.
In the meantime, we continue to focus on what our fabulous team does so well: We create memories. We cater for sun-worshippers, stormy days in the rain, music lovers, holiday makers, adrenaline junkies, food lovers, wedding couples and those simply seeking some escape from the daily grind. We do it all with passion and love.
We hope that you enjoy our home and your visit to Lusty Glaze Beach Resort.


TJR Precision Technology co., Ltd. is a professional manufacturer of CNC rotary tables (the 4th and 5th axis). The main products are CNC rotary table, CNC index table, and other accessories with high precision and stability.
The products are mainly applied in aerospace industry, high-tech electronics industry, automobile parts manufacturing, multi-faceted spiral manufacturing, and other mechanical industries.
We have the best research and development team that integrates the applications of machine centers and rotary tables, and have the strictest quality control to ensure the highest quality. We also have the most active customer service to make the rotary table work in the optimal condition.
TJR Precision Technology Co., Ltd. sincerely provides the best products and services for our most respected customers.


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Q: How to Load Data into remote Neo4j AWS instance? I want to import data into a Neo4j instance brought up in AWS (community edition from AWS marketplace). One option is to convert the data to CSV and run the LOAD CSV command in the Neo4j UI, and point it to a public http address that reads from S3. This, however, means we need to publicly expose the file externally which would expose sensitive data. How else can import this data?
Thanks!

A: I would suggest you use any of the Neo4j driver like Python or Java. Here is one Python example that I used in my posts:
def store_to_neo4j(distances):
  data = [{'source': el[0], 'target': el[1], 'weight': distances[el]} for el in distances]
  with driver.session() as session:
    session.run("""
    UNWIND $data as row
    MERGE (c:Character{name:row.source})
    MERGE (t:Character{name:row.target})
    MERGE (c)-[i:INTERACTS]-(t)
    SET i.weight = coalesce(i.weight,0) + row.weight
    """, {'data': data})

You don't want to execute the import line by line, but you want to batch lets say 1000 rows in a parameter and then use UNWIND operator to import this data.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Wired up Wrong is a collection of auto-bio comic strips that I (comic-creator Rachael Smith) made in an effort to better understand my own brain. The strips deal mainly with my struggles with anxiety and depression; some are lighthearted, some are potent, some are just straight-up advice. The cast of the comics includes yours truly, my boyfriend Adam, my cat Rufus, as well as two giant black dogs called Barky who follow me around, and two tiny game show hosts who live in my head. Yeah, it's a wild ride.
I initially released Wired Up Wrong as a 40 page book with a small print run. It was a bit of fun. 'Hey, a few people might get a kick out of this!', I thought. The books sold out. Like, absurdly quickly. Andy Oliver, Editor-in-Chief at Broken Frontier suggested it was my most important work to date. People said it had helped them cope with their own mental health issues, or made it easier to help people they knew. It made people feel less alone. I thought I was making a personal book about my own experiences but it resonated with people all over the world. It had become a funny, touching, accessible way for people to better understand mental health issues. It was overwhelming. It was awesome.
More copies of the book were needed, obviously. But instead of simply reprinting the original 40 page book, I wanted to do something much more special. That's where this Kickstarter, and you (yes, you!), come in.
BONUS: Thanks to meeting both of my stretchgoals, the book will now feature spot UV on the front and back covers AND each physical copy of the book will come with a bookmark and sticker sheet! YAY!
You can also read reviews of the original book from Broken Frontier and AP2HYC.
Here's one of those Artist Bio things that's supposed to sound like I didn't write it but PSSST I TOTALLY DID! Oh! Apart from the quotes underneath, they were totally written by those other dudes.
As well as numerous self-published comics such as I Am Fire, The Way We Write, and Flimsy's Guide to Modern Living, Rachael has three critically acclaimed graphic novels already under her belt: House Party (2014, Great Beast Comics), The Rabbit (2015, Avery Hill Publishing), and Artificial Flowers (2016, Avery Hill Publishing). She has been nominated for two British Comic Awards: Emerging Talent in 2014, and Best Book (for The Rabbit) in 2015. Rachael also writes and draws the humour strips for the Doctor Who: Tenth Doctor comic series published by Titan Comics and is a regular contributor to Empathize This, a website which gives marginalised people a voice through comics.
Here's all the bang you can get for your buck!
Basically the book can go to print as soon as this Kickstarter has hit its funding goal, so I'm estimating late November. Just in time for Christmas!
I chose to crowdfund this book rather than go through a publisher 'cause although it's a super personal project, it seems to have resonated with a whole lot of people. I want the readers to feel like they're a part of what we're gonna achieve here!
I also crowdfunded my first graphic novel, House Party, through Kickstarter which was (thanks to the fans!) a huge success, so it'll be nice to do something like that again.
Thank you so much for reading this, for supporting this Kickstarter, for reading any of my comics, for saying hello to me at conventions, for being you. If you'd like to help out in a non-monetary way then please share this Kickstarter far and wide with your friends, enemies, pets, and strangers.
If you're reading this and you're suffering from mental health issues right now, please know that you're not alone, you are loved, and you are awesome.
I'm very well experienced with self-publishing comics and graphic novels, and also with crowd-funding, so I'm expecting a pretty smooth ride here for all involved.
If any problems do arise, in the workload, printing, courier services etc. I will be perfectly honest and transparent about it. You guys will be informed all the way.


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Jeffrey Goldberg named as The Atlantic's new editor-in-chief
by Dylan Byers @CNNMoney October 11, 2016: 9:33 AM ET
Jeffrey Goldberg (left) interviews CIA Director John Brennan
The Atlantic has appointed national security reporter and columnist Jeffrey Goldberg to serve as its new editor-in-chief.
Goldberg will replace James Bennet, who left The Atlantic earlier this year to run the editorial page at The New York Times.
The news, which was first reported by the New York Times' Sydney Ember late Monday night, is expected to be formally announced on Tuesday by Atlantic Media owner David Bradley.
Bradley and the magazine's president, Bob Cohn, considered hundreds of candidates for the position, which has been held by 14 men since the magazine's founding in 1857.
"It is fair to say that, together, we met a great deal of the nation's top editorial talent. A hundred journalists with the most-respected U.S. and U.K. publications recommended to us just under 500 people as the current and next generation stars to meet," Bradley wrote in a memo to staff. "But, at least for us, Jeff is something set apart."
Jeffrey Goldberg, a national correspondent for @TheAtlantic, succeeds James Bennet as its 14th top editor: https://t.co/xj7ktBzqiq pic.twitter.com/zvJ0MYJZIi
— kerry parke (@kelissa) October 11, 2016
A veteran of The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine and New York Magazine, Goldberg is one of the preeminent names in foreign policy journalism, particularly on America's relationship with Israel and the Middle East.
The author of the 2006 book "Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror," he has conducted multiple interviews with President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other world leaders.
Goldberg was also the principal author of The Atlantic's recent endorsement of Hillary Clinton, which was only the magazine's third presidential endorsement in its 160-year history. It labeled Trump "the most ostentatiously unqualified major-party candidate in the 227-year history of the American presidency."
Correction: An earlier version of this story accidentally credited the wrong news organization with breaking this news. That has been fixed.
CNNMoney (Los Angeles) First published October 11, 2016: 2:55 AM ET


The original listing had the incorrect sheath as pointed out by a helpful ebayer. I checked my friends hunting gear and located the original sheath. This is a incredible knife which it looks like it was never used.... It is in like new condition and has a super sharp blade.
There is no wear to the knife and the blade and handle are near perfect. The pictures describe best the condition. The blade is marked S MORSETH and on the other side it is marked 88A-43. I believe this is the hardness of the blade marking and type of steel.
The knife measures 8 1/4 inches long, the blade being 4 inches. This is a very high end collectors knife in fantastic condition.
I believe the handle to be hard wood maple or bone. Their is a pattern in the handle like wood grain or bone.
The finish on the handle is very hard. There is not another knife in his hunting gear that fits the sheath. The sheath is in excellent condition and is marked JB in a circle and I-90 underneath it.
The item "S MORSETH CUSTOM MADE HUNTING KNIFE 88A 43 & ORIGINAL MORSETH SHEATH" is in sale since Sunday, February 21, 2016. This item is in the category "Collectibles\Knives, Swords & Blades\Fixed Blade Knives\Modern (1970-Now)\Custom Manufactured". The seller is "colbalt*" and is located in Hayden, Idaho.
This item can be shipped to United States, to Canada, to United Kingdom, DK, RO, SK, BG, CZ, FI, HU, LV, LT, MT, EE, GR, PT, CY, SI, SE, to Taiwan, TH, to Belgium, to France, to Hong Kong, to Ireland, to Netherlands, PL, to Spain, to Italy, to Germany, to Austria, IL, to Mexico, to New Zealand, NO, QA, KW, BH, HR, MY, CO, CR, PA, TT, GT, HN.


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National Banana Split Day
melissasfoodiesDessert, Holidays, Recipesbanana split, banana split recipes, ice cream, ice cream recipes, national banana split dayLeave a comment
Today seems like a fitting occasion to celebrate one of this summer's most special holidays–National Banana Split Day. As one of the nation's most iconic desserts, the banana split has come a long way since its inception in 1904. Invented by David Evans Strickler during his pharmacy apprenticeship at Tassel Pharmacy, the original banana split featured a scoop of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream and was layered with chocolate and strawberry sauce, topped with nuts, whipped cream and a single cherry on the top. Now that sounds like banana split we all know and love! Word of mouth spread throughout the area and eventually to across the nation
A banana split is described as a banana sliced down the middle and served with three scoops of ice cream and various fruits, candies and sauces. It's traditionally served in a long-shaped boat dish With so many different combination you can create, what's not to love about this classic dessert? No wonder it has its own holiday! To commemorate this joyous day, here are a few simple ideas for putting together your own banana split to enjoy.
Strawberry, Vanilla, Chocolate ice cream
1 Banana, split
Flat waffle cone
Fruit Salad (strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, lemons, apples)
Strawberries, sliced
Graham cracker crumbs
What other tasty banana split combinations can you think of? Will you be celebrating National Banana Split Day this year?
Back to School: Oatmeal Raisin Granola Bars
Plan a Party: Labor Day Picnic


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Rural land means land that it is used or apparently intended to be used for gain or profit from grazing of livestock, dairying, poultry farming, viticulture, orcharding, beekeeping, horticulture, the growing of crops of any kind and vegetable growing.
If you are purchasing rural land, the following should be taken in to account in order to ensure exactly what is being sold to you along with the property:
Whether the land is appropriate for the use which you have in mind. It is important to consider flood plains, accessibility, water tables, depth, quality and reliability.
Whether the property has appropriate Council approvals and Council zoning for existing structures, and any future development you wish to undertake.
Proximity of healthcare and other services which you may require.
Which property taxes will apply.
Does the transaction include transfer of any licences such as for water usage?
Easements. It is important to understand what existing easements or other rights of way which run through the property.
Confirm what has been done in order to control noxious pests on the land, including rabbits and noxious weeds.
Clearing sales
As your conveyancing solicitors, we will also assist with the following searches and enquiries under the Stock (Chemical Residues) Act 1975, Stock Diseases Act 1923, Plant Diseases Act 1924, Noxious Weeds Act 1993, Rural Lands Protection Act 1989 on your behalf:
Chemical Residues
Livestock Diseases
Plant Diseases and Pests
Noxious Weeds
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The Conveyancing (Sale of Land) Regulation 2000 places important obligations on vendors in relation to prescribed documents which must be disclosed in the Contract. If you are looking at selling, it is imperative that any Notices under the Stock Diseases Act 1923, Water Act, Stock (Chemical Residues) Act 1975, Soil Conservation Act and Native Vegetation Conservation Act be disclosed. If these notices have been received and are not disclosed, this may amount to a breach of warranty.
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